1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cable and air management adaptation system for enclosures housing electronic equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
For the past several years advances in the development and performance of electronic equipment such as computer hardware (i.e. client/server systems and switching devices) and electronic equipment used in industrial control applications (i.e., distributed control systems, programmable logic controllers and fieldbus devices), have resulted in smaller, more numerous and densely packed equipment. While these advances have typically reduced the amount of space per item required to house the equipment in enclosures, the heat output generated by this equipment has increased. Excessive heat buildup within an enclosure can result in premature equipment failure, negatively effect the equipment's performance and result in costly downtime. As a result, to assure optimum and reliable performance of housed systems, current use of enclosures that house electronic equipment require the user consider airflow and heat distribution, as well as cable management.
Airflow and heat distribution considerations include the air entry and discharge locations of external cooling systems, whether the enclosure is mounted atop a raised floor, the proximity of surrounding equipment, as well as air distribution and cable routing inside the enclosure. Cabling for electronic equipment's power and communications typically enters the enclosure from the top and/or bottom. The cables' internal routing can adversely affect the operation of the equipment, heat rejection and air distribution within the enclosure. To mitigate some of these problems, enclosure manufacturers typically provide a variety of enclosure frame depths, cable channels and fans in an attempt to ensure proper operation of the equipment. However, these approaches limit adaptation of the enclosure to the changing requirements of the enclosure based on changes in the housed equipment and/or the enclosure's external environment. These changing requirements typically occur in the front and rear of the enclosure where most airflow, heat distribution and cabling issues exist.